oyer
Americannoun
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a hearing in open court involving the production of some document pleaded by one party and demanded by the other, the party pleading the document being said to make profert.
noun
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English legal history (in the 13th century) an assize
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(formerly) the reading out loud of a document in court
Etymology
Origin of oyer
1375–1425; late Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French oïr to hear < Latin audīre
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Mosbachers wintered comfortably in Palm Beach; summers were given oyer to sailing on Long Island Sound, first in the family shell boat, and then, when Bus was nine, in his own boat: a Star.
From Time Magazine Archive
One of the men who parachuted from the sky oyer Normandy on D-day was a 29-year-old Anglican chaplain, George Edward Maule Parry.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Chinese Communist air force had a tactical advantage oyer the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
I turned the card oyer in my hand.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Hermione hurried oyer to Katie’s wailing friend and put an arm around her.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
